The Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA) has launched SET Up for Success, a workshop series designed to provide women in the ICT industry with the skills to plan and navigate a successful high-technology career.
"We know that restricting women's job opportunities is costing the Asia-Pacific region up to $47 billion each year," AIIA's CEO, Sheryle Moon said.
"At the same time, we also know that less than 18% of all ICT employees are women "“ and this number is falling. Our industry has a golden opportunity to increase our productivity by increasing the participation rate of women, and programs like SET Up for Success can help at a grassroots level."
One-day SET Up for Success workshops will be held in each Australian capital city throughout June, providing women with the skills to succeed in a male-dominated working environment, negotiate suitable work arrangements and achieve work/life balance.
The workshop series will be presented by AIIA's Sheryle Moon and Candy Tymson, author of Gender Games: Doing Business with the Opposite Sex.
According to Moon, negotiation skills are an essential component of the training.
"Women employees across the Australian economy earn just 83 cents for every dollar their male counterpart earns, so clearly, women can benefit from enhanced skills to enable them to negotiate salary packages and working conditions," Moon said.
The number of women professionals leaving the ICT sector is an increasing challenge.
"Women are telling us that the male-dominated environment and a lack of work/life balance make the industry unattractive. At the same time, the fast pace of life is taking its toll on women across the economy," Ms Moon says.
"While one in six Australian women reported feeling rushed in 1974, by 1997, seven out of eight women felt like life had become more frantic. We need to provide skills and training to help women gain and maintain work/life balance."